Key case



'July 17, 1934. w, R," BUXTQN 1,966,429

KEY CASE Filed April 2l, 1932 INVENroR BY Mfr/ro? .5f/xfa# ATT ORNE YJPatented July 17, 1934 v latam y m cass l Warner B. Buxtomllongmeadow,Mael., assigner to Buxton, Incorporated. Springfield, Mal., acorporation of Massachusetts -I Applicaion April 21, 1932, serial No.mais ZCIairns. (Cl. C-40) This invention relates to improvements in keyycases and has to do more particularly with the construction of theleather case or folder as distinguished from the key holders and theirsupl porting structure. l

` The invention has for lan objectv an improvement in the means forenclosing,` the keys and key` holders and is characterized bythe use ofa single pair of interengageable fastener ele- 10 ments, applied at anew location to the overlapping flaps. which areadapted to be heldtogether by such elements. By this new location, an important functionis accomplished inthe prevention of substantial relative pivotalmovement of l5 the iiaps about the interengaged fasteners as an axis and-the keys are firmly bound in place against unintentional escape throughthe uppe and open end of the key case.

This andother features of the invention will more particularly appearfrom the, following description and will be pointed out' in the appendedclaims.

The invention will be disclosed withreference to theaccompanyingdrawinglfin which;

Figs. 1- and2 aretop plan and side elevational views of a key caseembodyingmy invention, the case being shown as closed;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the key case, shown as open; and

3Q Fig. 4 is a sectional elevational view taken on theline4-4o'fFig. 1.

` Referring 'tol the'drawing; the key case inclujdes acfolder, usuallymade of leather'or like material and comprising a strip of such mate--`345 'rial divided oil'- by lines of fold 5 into a central section 8and two flaps 'I and 8, o'ne on each side of the central section. Theseflaps are foldable in overlapping'relation uponthe central section Q8and are fas/tened together in such relation in 40f--za special andimproved mannenas'will later appear. l

y The central section carries the-key holders 9 which may be of anysuitable form. They are supported from a metal plate 10 for swingingmovement into and out of the case inthe usual;

orany suitable manner and. preferably also for swivelling movement. Asindicated, the key holders have y ball heads' l1 which turn in thehollow cylindrical and transversely slotted upper 5o rolled over part l2of plate l0.' The plate is in' the ap 8 slopes or curves in any desiredway, 05,

such as the ornamental way herein shown, to-v wards the two extremitiesof its line of fold 5. This construction avoids loose` free corners,which eventually present a dog-eared appearance after the key ease hasbeen in use for some time, and 'l0V alsoenables a satisfactory closureto beeifected by a single set of fasteners.

The most important feature, however, is in the location of the fastenerelements. A single pair oi' fastener elements have been used heretofore75.

for securing together the naps of a key case but 'they have' always beencentrally applied to the naps i. e.'half way between the upper and loweredges thereof, and cannot accomplishl the results of this invention. Twopairs of such fasteners 80. have also been used, one pair near the topandl the other near the bottom. The present invention, however,accomplishes all the desired results by the use of a single pair offasteners located in the special place shown and in coniunc-I 845,4

tion with'the special formation of ap 8.

There are in a key case, two factors which limit the extent .to whichthe'flaps 'I and 8 can be drawn' together. One of these is therigld'platel which extends acro the upper part of the central sec- 90.tion and restrains the flaps 7- and 8from bending along lines which arespaced any more vclosely than the length of this plate. The other factoris Igthe keys themselves, or more properly the heads thereof as theseare the more bulky parts of the 945 keysand take up the most room. Theoverlapp ing heads of the keys fitting between the lines of gfold of theflaps restrict the flaps from being -dravn together more closely, justas plate 10does,

aa, which indicates the level in the key case at which the greatest bulkoccurs. This level is somewhat nearer the top than the bottom of theextremities of the key holders. 1

This invention is characterized by the location of the fastener elementsat a point intermediate the line a-a of greatest bulk aud .the lowervedge of the plate 10. As a practical matter, the fastenets are 'usualbrapplied at a point between the 11- and this restriction occurs along aline such as key case and it is usually slightly below the lower 'loslower extremities of the key holders and the lower edge of plate 10. Bythis location of the fasteners the flaps may be drawn together tightlyand fastened at a level intermediate the two levels where restrictionsexist and actually the sides of the closed key case may be pinched in,as illustrated at l5 in slightly exaggerated form in Fig. 4. That is,the leather folder encompasses the key holders more tightly here than itdoes at locations immedjately above and below.

The practical and highly useful resultof the arrangement is that thekeys are effectually bound in place and prevented from falling out orbeing shaken out from the open upper end of the key holder. Thecondition, under which the keys can accidentally become dislodged from aclosed key case, are set forth in my prior U. S. Patent No. 1,443,937,and illustrated in Fig. 5 thereof. A preventative means of a differentnature is there disclosed for overcoming the difliculty. The presentinvention provides a simpler and better way of securing the same generalresults in an even more effective way. As a practical matter, thepresent invention is very desirable in addition to the vpreventativemeans of my prior patent. By the novel location of the single pair ofinterengageable fasteners, the flaps 7 and 8 not only firmly bind thekey holders against material swinging movement and form a constrictionin the case through which the keys cannot pass in the only path open forthem to pass,vbut it also naturally prevents the pivotal movement of thenaps referred to in the prior patent. Above and below the fasteners,about which the flaps ordinarily may pivot, are restrictions, a metalplate and bulky mass of overlapping key heads, and theseelements'prevent the flaps from turning on the fasteners as pivots toany substantial degree.

The invention has been disclosed herein for illustrative purposes butthe scope of the invention is defined to the appended claims.

What I claim is: A

1. A key case, comprising, a folder having a central back panel and twoside flaps 4adapted to be folded in overlapping relation over the backpanel to form a flat tubular container, a rigid stifening memberextending entire width of lthe back panel near its upperaend, a seriesof rigid key holders pivotally supported from the back panel near itsupper'edge for swinging movement into and out of the case in arc-likepaths of substantially constant radius, said flaps when folded over thekey holders restraining the latter from movement in said paths andmaintaining them substantially at against said back panel with theirfree and lower ends lying substantially definitely located in apredetermined line extending transversely across the back panel andbetween the upper and lower edges thereof, and interengageable means onsaid aps for fastening them together in overlapping relation at onepoint only and in a manner enabling relative pivotal movement, saidpoint being located between said support and said line, whereby any keyson said holders will be located for the most part below said line andwill spread out and press against the sides of the case, therebyspreading apart the flaps at points below said pivotal means and causingthe flaps at points above said means to swing inwardly about saidfastening means as a pivot and be pressed against the ends of said rigidsupport to tightly close the upper end of the case.

2. A key case, comprising, a folder having a central back panel and twoside aps adapted to be folded in overlapping relation over the backpanel to form a flat tubular container, a rigid stilening memberextending across the entire width of the back panel near its upper end,a series of rigid key holders pivotally; supported 105 from the backpanel near its upper edge for swinging movement into and out of* thecase in arc-like paths of substantially constant radius, saidflaps whenfolded over the key holders restraining the latter from movement insaid'paths 110 and maintaining them substantially hat against said backpanel with their free and lower ends lying substantially definitelylocated in a predetermined line extending transversely across the backpanel and between the upper and lower edges thereof, and interengageablemeans on said aps for fastening them together in overlapping relation atone point only and at a point located between said line and support,said fastening means constructed to draw the flaps tightly together andconstrict the case in width at a point between said line and rigidsupport to vrn'event escape of keys.

A WARNER R. BUXTON.

